War and Peace
by darkchakram
Summary: Fifteen years after Xena's death, Ares still hasn't gotten over it. Can a surprise encounter in the forest give Ares a new reason for living? Xena/Ares (eventually) Lots of angst first because it is a darkchakram fiction. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Purpose

Ares brought the hammer down hard on the red-hot steel. The ping rang against the stone walls, echoing loudly. Of late, the god found that smithing was the only thing that calmed him And nothing brought him joy. Not even war. She took happiness with her when she left the world. The thought of Xena brought his pounding to a stop. Frustrated, Ares cast his hammer aside and tossed the sword he'd been working into the furnace. Fifteen years, fifteen long, empty years. Ares wiped the sweat off of his brow and pushed back the black curls that had matted against his forehead.

He knew he needed to move past it. But for the life of him, he didn't know how. The gods had accused him of shirking his duties, and truth be told, he had. The world of men no longer held any appeal to him. Mortals only reminded him of the one he couldn't have. And the politics of the gods bored him to tears. Ares had sat idly by while the gods had decided to forsake their Greek names and adopt Roman ones. And why shouldn't they? The Romans were ascendant. Apollo pretty much ran things on the Mountain, so Ares kept his distance. The Halls of War became his refuge from them all, immortal and mortal alike. His Roman temples overflowed with riches and finery, none of which could give him the only thing he desired.

When Gabrielle first delivered the news of Xena's demise. Ares wavered between anger and sadness. She'd sacrificed herself in search of redemption. In Jappa! It might as well have been across the western sea for all the good it did him. The eastern gods were notorious for not allowing interference in their realms. Ares had tried to broker an agreement with them regarding Xena's soul but none of their gods had been willing to even grant him an audience. It made his blood boil. Maybe in the time before the Twilight, the Greeks could have mounted an offensive against the Jappa gods, but not now. Their numbers were dwindled and their power weakened. And besides, there weren't many among them who would have waged a campaign for the sake of Xena's soul. So, his hands were tied.

His only hope lay in finding the damned scroll that she'd signed granting him access to her soul after her mortal life ended. The document would force the gods of Jappa to listen to him. He'd scoured all of her old haunts looking for it. He'd talked to every rare scroll dealer from Alexandria to Londontown. Not even a whisper to its whereabouts made its way back to him. So he was alone. Alone in his misery.

The old trifles that he used to turn to to pass the time, didn't even bring him the mildest pleasure anymore. He'd sworn off women. And wine had lost its sweetness. He broke his fast with ambrosia and took his afternoon nectar but those were necessary to his survival and he never drank or ate more than was needed for sustenance

Armies rose and fell, He paid no mind. Temples, altars, and shrines were erected to his new name, Mars. He took no pride in their grandeur. The Romans paid him homage, traced their founding to him. It was the greatest city on the face of the Earth and yet, it only reminded him of Xena's hatred of it. He steered clear of the seven hills.

Sometimes, he wondered at what happened to Eve. The last he'd heard, she was preaching the gospel of Eli in the East to any who would listen to her drivel. Gabrielle had died shortly after Xena. In the land of the Pharaohs. Aphrodite had relayed the news to him. She'd gone up against a crazed sorcery and lost. Ares held his sister while she had shed tears for a woman he'd never loved but had learned to like.

Aphrodite. Thinking of his sister brought a faint smile to Ares' face. He hadn't seen her in years. After he pulled away from the world of the gods and took up permanent residence at the Halls of War, she came to visit a few times but then her visits became fewer and fewer until eventually she quit coming at all. Ares hoped she'd found love again after losing Hephaestus. She deserved happiness.

Ares sighed. The forge was not going to bring an end to his melancholy today. He needed to kill something. Ares grabbed his maple-wood bow from its stand and slung his quiver of arrows over his shoulder. He'd taken up archery to pass time. It didn't exactly make him happy but it was one of the few activities that got him out of the castle. Even when hunting he never left the grounds of the vast estate. There was plenty of game for the taking, especially near the riverlands. When Ares made a kill, he gave it to the mortal servants that kept the Halls of War running. They were few in number. He kept a personal steward, a stable hand, and a maid. A woodsman lived on the estate in a small house and he provided the main house with wood for the fires and kept Ares flush in arrows.

The autumn breeze felt like a winter wind when Ares stepped out of the forge into the yard. Millie, the plump woman who kept the Halls of War shining was tossing a bucket of slop into the hogpen. She saw his bow and smiled at the god. "Good day it is for a hunt, Master."

"Hm," Ares grunted and walked by her and into the forest.

Ares headed east toward a creek that fed from the main river. As he neared the water, the packed dirt floor gave way to a moss covered rich loam. Colorful leaves blanketed the moss creating a vibrant collage of oranges, yellows, and reds. Ares walked softly to minimize the crunching of the fallen leaves. One foot in front of the other. That's how he'd kept going in those early days after she died. One foot in front of the other. Some days, still, that was all that kept him moving.

Movement to the right caught his attention. He brought the bow up but the creature had run behind a tree. Ares cocked his head but couldn't sight the animal. He crept in the direction it had gone. He'd caught sight of a swath of black hair. Boar most likely. Ares cornered around the stand of trees where he thought the animal had fled but as he turned, movement came from his left. This time he got a better view. It wasn't an animal at all. It was a young boy. Likely a poacher.

"Stand up. Show yourself," Ares ordered.

The brush where the boy was hiding rustled but he refused to stand.

"I said show yourself or I will shoot." Ares didn't want to shoot the kid, but the kid didn't need to know that.

Slender hands raised out of the bushes. Then a head full of tangled black hair popped out followed by the skinniest kid Ares had ever seen. All knees and elbows. The whelp looked like he hadn't eaten in days. No not he. When she stood fully, it was clear from the slight swell of her chest that she was a girl of about fourteen. "Don't shoot," she called. "I'm not armed."

"Now, come out of there. Slowly." Ares called.

The girl brushed leaves off the front of her leather breeches and moved toward him.

Fooled by her youthful innocence, Ares tucked his arrow back into his quiver and lowered his bow. It was then that she struck. She reached swiftly behind her back and before he had time to react, twin daggers hurled through the air and struck hard against his chest before they thudded on the ground below.

The fact that her daggers had bounced off him told her all she needed to know. "You're him aren't you?"

Great, Ares thought, another local yokel that wanted to prove themselves to the God of War. "Kid run along before I cut your heart out with these" Ares used his powers to summon the daggers off the ground, He turned his fingers inward and the daggers changed angle and pointed straight at the child.

"You trying to scare me?"

Ares let the daggers go. They soared through the air, making a whistling noise as they cut the wind. He brought them to a dead stop mere centimeters from her face. She'd never flinched. Never even batted a dark lash over those blue eyes. Ares lost control of the blades, they fell back to the earth but he felt like they'd sunk into his chest. He'd seen those eyes he'd hoped to never see them again. "Who are you?" He dared ask.

"I'm your daughter."

"Is this a trick?" It didn't make sense. Xena was dead. Maybe the child was older than he'd guessed. But he couldn't remember them having sex except for that one night. And that was only a few months before she got herself killed. She wouldn't have had time to carry a child to term.

The girl watched all the emotions flitting across Ares' face as he tried to sort through the mystery in front of him. "It was a trick," she answered. "A terrible trick on you and me."

"What are you talking about?"

"My mother. My mother and Gabrielle. And Aphrodite, They conspired to fake my mother and Gabrielle's deaths. To keep me hidden from the other gods. Because of what happened with-"

"Eve," Ares whispered.

"Yes," the girl replied.

"Are you saying that Xena is alive? That you are? That you are my. . . our daughter?"

"I am." The girl took a tentative step in his direction.

Ares held up a hand to stop her. "Wait. Why are you here? Has something happened? Is Xena okay?"

"You're still in love with her?"

"I . . . uh. . . I'm. . ."

"You are! Even after she kept us apart? Don't be a pathetic sap, Ares. She doesn't love you. Only Gabrielle. Believe me, I hear all the time how I'm too much like you, and how it's gonna get me killed."

The shock was beginning to wear off for Ares and it was quickly being replaced by anger. The child had a point. Why had Xena entrusted Aphrodite to protect the secret of their child and not him? Was it so she could run off with Gabrielle? To raise the child without him? Did she really loathe him so much? And to think, he'd spent the last fifteen years of his life moping around over her. His dark eyes flashed to his daughter. "What's your name? You know mine."

"Eirini," she answered.

"Peace," Ares whispered the meaning. Rage tore through him. "That is something that Xena will never have again."

His daughter smiled a cold smile. "Good. I'm glad we are in agreeance. Now, she will be hot on my heels so we need to make a plan."

"Let her come. It's been a long time since she has felt my wrath." Fire burned in Ares' soul and for the first time in fifteen years he felt alive! Gloriously alive.


	2. Magic

An orange fire crackled in the giant stone hearth. Ares' steward Balen had brought in newly split oak logs when his Lord demanded he ready the main hall for lunch. The steward had been shocked by the request. In all his years attending to the god, he'd never known Ares to take any meals at the table. In fact, he'd never even seen the god eat so much as an apple. But if fifteen years of service had taught him anything, it was that Ares wasn't to be questioned.

"Balen, have cook bring in a plate of whatever she's making for dinner. And some fresh milk."

The steward stacked a few more logs neatly next to the hearth. "Yes, my Lord."

"And two goblets." Ares paced the floor nervously. He hoped she liked milk. Was she old enough for wine? Sweet wine, surely. "Bring some new wine too, Balen."

"Yes, Sir." Balen bowed in the doorway that led toward the kitchen.

When Ares had first brought Eirini back to the Halls of War, a million questions ran through his brain. But he demanded that she get herself cleaned up first. Her travel clothes had been filthy and her hair tangled and matted with grass and leaves. Ares had given her one of the rooms he used to keep reserved for his most honored generals. It had been years since he'd had company at the Halls of War, other than his servants. It felt strange having another person padding down the marble hall alongside of him. Not just anyone, his daughter. He'd wanted to grab her up into his arms. But he'd manage to restrain himself. He didn't want her first impression of him to be one of emotional weakness. She'd already called him a sap for still carrying a torch for her mother. Ares left her in the room and told her to make herself comfortable while he had the maid, Millie, heat some water so she could bathe. Then Ares had gone into his personal chambers and opened the lock of an old chest. The gown was over forty years old and it felt stiff to the touch when Ares lifted it up and shook it out. It had gone musty over the years but the blue dye was just as vibrant as the day Xena had folded the dress carefully into the trunk.

When Ares had brought the dress to Eirini's room, she gave him an unamused look, cocking one eyebrow at him like her mother had so many times. "I don't do dresses."

"Well, you'll have to do this one while I have your clothes cleaned. You can't go around like that."

"You're a god. Can't you just clean me?"

Ares looked at her queerly. "Are you sure you're Xena's daughter?" Xena would never let him use his powers for something so trivial.

"Everybody is not as perfect as my mom, okay? Just seems like an awful lot of work when you can just use your magic."

"Don't call it magic" Did she take him for a sorcerer? The gifts of his godhood were sacred. They weren't just mere parlor tricks!. "They are my powers."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

She looked so much like Xena. Cerulean blue eyes behind raven-dark lashes. Chiseled jaw and the same long sloping nose. Dark hair that Ares knew would shine in the light once she washed it. But she had his mouth, thick pouty lips and the slightest hint of his dimples. "When you're presentable, meet me in the main hall," he said before backing out of the room, forcing himself to take his eyes away from her.

Ares watched the flames dance in the fireplace. What was taking her so long? It had been nearly an hour since he'd left her. Nobody kept him waiting, he was the God of War. Ares looked at the long table. It had been years since he'd had a meeting of his general sitting there talking about campaigns, comparing war stories. The table seemed rather large for only two people. It's emptiness made it look even more enormous than it was. Ares waved his hand and a short fat silver pot appeared in the center of the table. Another gesture and bright red roses poured out of the top of the urn. Ares studied the flowers. Too romantic. He replaced them with black roses whose petals were so silken they shimmered in the firelight. Too sexy. Ares sighed. The third try was the charm. Creamy white roses with red carnation accents.

Balen returned with a pewter jug of milk and two black goblets bejeweled with priceless rubies. "Millie says she can bring you a bowl of venison stew now, My Lord. Or if you prefer to wait, she could cook some lamb chops and roast potatoes."

"The stew will do for now," Ares answered.

"I'll let her know."

Ares was going to say thank you to the steward but Balen's eyes went wide at something behind Ares. The god turned to see Eirini standing barefoot in the silk indigo dress. The girl didn't quite fill out the dress he'd had custom made for Xena. His warrioress had been in her mid-twenties when she was measured for the dress, a decade older, with a body more mature than Eirini's fourteen year old form. The bust and bodice had extra room on the girl where they had fitted snugly to the perfect curvature of Xena's breasts and waist. But the length was perfect, the hem nearly kissing the floor above her bare feet. Funny he hadn't noticed how tall she was in the forest. But it made sense to him now why he had initially mistaken her for a boy.

"Eirini, this is Balen, he helps me out around here. If you need anything, just let him know."

Eirini looked over the balding, middle aged man. She couldn't understand for the life of her why a god would need servants. Wasn't everything within a snap of his fingers? Still, her mother had raised her to be cordial to strangers. "Hi," she waved.

"My Lady," Balen bowed.

"Just Rini," she answered casually and started surveying her new digs. The main hall was segmented into three spaces. Double iron doors stood at the entryway and a long blood-red carpet ran from the doors to the center of the room where the massive dining table stretched out on a raised marble platform. At one end of the table was a chair carved out of black marble. The padding was black velvet tufted with silver buttons. There was no doubt to whom the chair belonged. At the other end of the table was a chair of near equal size to god's throne-like chair. It's high back was the same rich velvet but without buttons. The remaining seats were simple low-back wooden pieces. Beyond the dining area another long red carpet led to throne proper. There were five steps leading up to the raised dais. If the god's seat at the table had seemed huge, it was nothing compared to the gigantic seat decorated with iron skulls. A shiver ran up Eirini's spin. This was what she was meant for. This was home.

Ares followed his daughter's gaze. He knew that lust in her eyes. He'd seen it all too often in her mother's. Power called to her, like a moth to a flame. It must have killed Xena to see her daughter growing into a woman not too different from her own young self. "Are you hungry?" Ares asked as he poured milk into one of the goblets and offered it to her.

"Thank you," she said and took a long draw from the milk.

"Aren't you having any?" She noticed that he hadn't poured a drink for himself.

"When Balen brings the wine, I'll have a drink. Won't you have a seat?" Ares hated that everything felt so formal between them. This was his daughter.

"Sure," Eirini walked to the chair opposite of his at the end of the table. She ran her hands over the smooth velvet before settling into the seat. "Was this my mother's place at the table?"

A sad grin lifted one corner of Ares' mouth. Those days were so long past. He knew he'd never see Xena take her place in that seat again. Even if Xena were standing here in the hall with them, he didn't think he could let her take that place of pride. She had kept his child from him. He didn't know if he would ever be able to forgive her. How many years lost? First words, first steps, first scrapes and bruises, first tears, first laughs. Ares fought the knot in his throat. "It's yours now."

"Feels right." She ran her hands along the padded armrests.

"So you go by Rini?"

"Yep. Should I call you Ares, Lord Ares, God of War? How does this work, I wasn't really raised around divine beings."

Ares wanted to say you can call me Father but he wasn't even sure how she felt about that. He hadn't been a father to her, that privilege had been stolen from him. Gabrielle had been given the honor of being his daughter's second parent. "Ares is fine. That's what my family calls me."

"Family. That's right. I have a rather large family, don't I?'

"There are a few of us left after the. . ." Ares wasn't sure how much Xena and Gabrielle had told her about the Twilight. "Have you met Aphrodite? You mentioned her earlier."

"She's met me. I was too little to remember. But I found one of Gabrielle's scrolls that recounted what they'd done. How they'd spread word wide and far that my mother had fallen in the East. And then a few months later, Aphrodite convinced you that Gabby had died as well."

Ares felt like such a fool. He couldn't even look at his daughter. He was ashamed at how much of a dupe he must of seemed in her eyes. Balen rescued him by bringing in the bottle of wine that Ares had requested earlier. "Ah Balen, I'll take that." Ares crossed the room, took the bottle then returned to the table. He poured himself a goblet full and let it breathe. "So, you said your mother would be hot on your heels. What makes you think she'll look here?"

"We had words the night before I sneaked out. About you."

"Yeah, she's not exactly my biggest fan."

"It wasn't just about you. But I might've threatened to invoke your name."

"But you didn't. Why?" Instead of sitting in his normal chair, Ares pulled out one of the wooden seats closest to her seat and sat down. It felt strange and wonderful at the same time. He'd never sat in one of the simple wooden seats, but he had the need to be close to her.

It was Eirini's turn to avoid eye contact. "I was afraid you wouldn't come. You didn't even know I existed. I didn't know how to make a soul connection with you. I've never been one much for prayer, like Eve."

"So you do know your sister? I was wondering."

"Pious bitch," the girl spat with a venom that surprised even Ares.

Still, he couldn't help grin. "That she is."

Millie carried a tray with a big bowl of venison stew into the room. She sat it in front of the visitor. "Apologies Miss, the bread's day old, didn't 'spect no visitors."

"Looks tasty, thank you."

"Anything for you, My Lord?" Millie asked even though she knew he didn't take mortal food.

"Another goblet in case my daughter would like some wine as well as milk."

"Right away, Sir." Millie scampered back toward the kitchen.

Ares watched Rini gobble heartily at the stew. He wondered if she'd eaten since she'd made her escape. "Do you see Eve often?"

"As little as I can. She wants me to worship the god of Eli. Her constant prostelysing is nauseating. Why would I worship a god when I was meant to be one?"

A fountain of pride burst in Ares' heart.

"Plus," Rini continued her rant against her sister,"she says I shouldn't use my magic."

"Magic? You have powers? Of course you do, you're a demi-god."

"I'm very fast." Ares nodded. That explained why he'd thought she was a creature in the woods. She had moved out his line of vision as swift as any panther. "And I have an ability to bend people to my will."

"I'm not sure that's a power, your mother was one hundred percent mortal and she had an uncanny knack for making people do what she wanted." Ares shook his head when he realized he was still speaking of Xena in the past tense as if she were dead.

"She's persuasive, to be sure, but that's not what I'm talking about."

"Explain."

Millie came waltzing back into the hall. Ares eyed her curiously. The plump maid moved on her flat feet as graceful as a swan gliding over a lake. She danced toward the table and poured the wine into the goblet. When it was good and full she turned to Ares and dumped it out onto his head. Rini released her from her hold and the old woman gasped, unsure of what had come over her. "Ohhhh, My Lord, I'm soooooo sorry. Ohhhhh, please forgive me." She half expected Ares to cut her down and was startled when he laughed a fully, deep belly laugh that reverberated off the stone walls.

"My daughter has a sense of humor, Millie, that's all. You can leave us."

Millie scurried out of the room clumsily, nearly tripping on her flat feet in her haste.

Ares snapped his fingers and his black curls that had been drenched in wine where dry and perfectly coiffed. His clothes were as pristine as the day he'd got them.

"I knew you could do that. But you made me take a bath. Why?"

"Your mother wouldn't want me abusing my powers for you."

"You are still in love with her. Great. Are you going to send me back with her?" Rini pushed her bowl of stew away, suddenly losing her appetite.

"No. You can stay here as long as you like. No one will take you away from here, if that's what you want. Xena be damned if she tries to take you against your will."

Rini reached across the table and took his hand. She was surprised at its warmth. "Thank you. . ." she wanted to call him Father but didn't know how he would take to that. He was the God of War and probably not a very sentimental guy. Gabrielle had once told her that he loved no one but himself and maybe Xena, and that was a maybe. "Thank you, Ares."


	3. Home

The suite that Ares had provided Rini was spacious and comfortable, but the young woman had found sleeping inside stone walls suffocating. She'd grown up in an eastern Amazon village and had never spent a night so far removed from the natural elements. In the sleeping hut that she shared with three other girls around her age, the wind whistled gently through the reed walls, singing her to sleep. The pungent earthen floor combined with the smell of the firepit had been the marker of home her whole life. The fireplace in her apartment at the Halls of War had been cozy enough but each pop and sizzle of the wood echoed loudly off the stone walls, making her jerk awake with each hiss. And when she woke, it was impossible to tell what time of night or day it was in the windowless room. Rini knew that this was how civilized people lived and it shamed her that she was having such a problem adjusting to it. How embarrassing was it that she, the daughter of a god, had been raised as a complete heathen, to the point that she couldn't even get a good night's sleep inside her father's castle.

Rini shrugged out of the sleeping gown that Millie had let her borrow. Sleeping in heavy bed clothes had been another novelty. She'd grown up wearing little more than a simple shift at night, if anything at all. Oft times, especially on cold nights, she would climb naked under the furs of one of the other girls she bunked with. Their skin to skin body heat and the blankets providing all the warmth they'd need. And if she was being completely honest with herself, the room felt lonely, empty. She'd grown accustomed to hearing the gentle breathing and soft snoring of her hutmates as she drifted off to sleep. Here the air was still, silent, dead.

Climbing out of bed, Rini half-heartedly went through the morning stretching routine than Xena had instilled in her since before she could walk. Her clean clothes were folded neatly on a chair in front of the fireplace. As she dressed, her belly growled. She didn't know what the protocol was regarding breakfast, but she hoped there would be some fruit or bread in the Great Hall.

The heavy door creaked as she stepped out into the corridor. She looked down the hallway to the left where it ended at a massive double door. She guessed this was the entrance into Ares' personal chambers. A skull sconce decorated either side of the door. The light from the candles poured out of the sockets. The door handles were made of swords. And not just any sword. Rini would recognized those blue jeweled hilts anywhere. The stones were the color of her eyes, the color of her mother's. Her belly rumbled again. Rini tore her eyes away from her father's suite and headed down the hallway to the right in search of breakfast.

When she reached the Great Hall, she was disappointed. The only thing on the long table was the flower arrangement that had been there when she and Ares had sat there the night before. A couple of white rose petals had fallen onto the black marble tabletop. Rini surveyed the Great Hall and scanned up the steps to where Ares throne sat. No food in sight. Then she remembered the door that Millie had used when serving them dinner. That had to be the way to the kitchen A faint light flickered in the dark recess of the doorway. Rini peeked her head around the frame. "Hello." Her voice echoed back at her She padded down the short hallway, "Millie?" No answer, but the light brightened as she neared the doorway at the opposite end of the hall. Rini stepped down into the kitchen and finally found the sustenance that she desired. A basket of green apples sat near the center of a long wooden table. Four roughly hewn planks made up its top, a seating plank ran along either side. Rina sat on the side of the table closest to the hearth and took a fat apple from the basket. She rub it thoroughly on her doe-skinned tunic then bit into the crisp rind. Tart juice ran down the sides of her mouth. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Bright red coals smoldered in the kitchen hearth. Rini tossed two logs on top of the hot coals and after a minute the room was awash with light. The small kitchen, surprisingly, reminded her of the kitchen hut back in the village. Sprigs of rosemary, sage, and thyme hung from the ceiling. Black cast iron pots hung on wooden pegs around the hearth. The cook's worktable, a small stand separate from the eating table, had a handful of copper pots and a knife block. A wooden bucket with a ladle hung from the side of the cook's stand. Rina found the water bucket empty but luckily, a black stoneware jug with wine sitting on the stand was half-full with red wine.

Rini had just bitten into her second apple when Millie ambled into the kitchen. "Ohhh dear, you startled me." The heavy women placed her hand on her chest. She was usually up before all of the human habitants of the Halls of War. And the Lord never came into the kitchen. "Everything alright, My Lady?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Aye, new beds are hard to get used to. You hungry?" Millie took the water bucket from the stand.

"I had two apples."

"Hah, that won't get you through the morning. I'll whip you up a real breakfast." Millie pushed open the kitchen back door with her booted foot. "Come on out and I'll show you the yard."

Rini followed. The upper vault of the sky was still dark, a few stars twinkled a million miles away, but the sky along the horizon to the east created a light blue halo above the treetops. Millie headed straight for the well which sat about a five meters left of the kitchen door. Rina took a deep breath of cool morning air. The earthy scents of the kitchen garden reminded her vaguely of the forest she'd grown up in. Red and black feathered chickens pecked about the yard and an old rooster crowed loudly.

"Shut yer yapping," Millie yelled at the cock as she situated the bucket onto the winch hook for lowering "Thinks he's Lord of the Castle, that one. I'd lop his redhead right off, if we didn't need him for breeding." The rooster crowed again, as if he'd understood exactly what Millie had said.

"He is rather loud, isn't he?" Rini had grown up with the sounds of the wilderness and was used to the occasional obnoxious hoot owl or howling wolf that would wake you up in the cold hours just before dawn. But the Amazons didn't practice animal husbandry. There were no chickens, goats, or pigs to look after. They hunted what meat they needed to survive.

"We've got a vegetable garden just over there, the orchard is through that doorway. Olives, figs, pears, almonds, oranges, and apples. Anything we don't have here, I can usually pick up at market. To the left around the castle, you'll find the training grounds, that's where the Lord spends most his mornings when he isn't out hunting. His forge and armory are next to the training grounds. If you walk to the right, past the chicken coop, you'll find the stables." Millie hoisted the pail up, unhooked it and sat the full pail on the ground, barely sloshing any water over the sides "I'll check the henhouse for some fresh eggs."

"I can do that," Rini offered.

"Don't be silly. I didn't bring you out here to work, My Lady. The Lord would have my hide."

"It's no trouble. One of my jobs in my village was to scavenge for bird eggs." Some of Rini's earliest memories were foraging through the woods with Gabrielle in search of mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and eggs. Wild quail eggs had been one of her mother's favorite treats. Rini had always felt triumphant watching Xena smile when she'd returned with a bounty of them.

"Well here, you are the Lady of the Castle and I'll not see you doing work made for servants, is that understood?" Millie grabbed a tattered apron that hung on a peg just outside the chicken coop.

"Yes," Rini answered. She had to admit that she liked being thought of as Lady of the Castle. Being Ares daughter was her birthright, afterall. She'd been denied all the luxuries associated with that because of her mother's and Gabrielle's lies. Thoughts of Xena left a sour taste in Rini's mouth. She looked up at the imposing edifice that was the Halls of War and reminded herself that this was home now. She would just have to get used to sleeping in the dark, still, stone walls. It should have been her reality all along. The truth of it was a bitter pill to swallow, especially given how Ares had welcomed her into his life, his home with open arms. He wasn't the monster that her mother, Gabrielle, and the Amazon leadership had painted him to be.

"Here we go," Millie called as she came out of the coop cradling a handful of eggs in a pouch she'd created by folding the apron in on itself. "Do you like them pan-fried or boiled?"

Rini almost told Millie to cook them however was easiest but then she realized that that wasn't any kind of answer that a cook would expect from the Lady of the Castle. With confidence, she looked at Millie and said, "Pan-fried and I'll take them in the dining hall."

Millie smiled, the Lady would do just fine, "As you say, My Lady. I'll grab some bacon out of the larder and I'll send Balen in shortly with wood for the main fireplace."

Rini nodded and left Millie to her work. The main hall was still empty and mostly dark A couple tall, round candelabras burned with cream-colored pillars. The twin braziers that sat on either side or Ares' throne glowed with red coals. Rini took the steps up to the throne. She supposed the skull imagery he'd used on his furniture was designed to strike fear into the hearts of mortals but it had the opposite effect on her. Rini ran her fingers along the cold metal skull that made up the right hand rest. The forehead of the skull had been worn so smooth over the years that she could see her reflection in the polished surface. But there wasn't only her reflection there, behind her stood another figure. The face she'd been running from. Xena!

Rini whipped around to face the warrior. "Mother. You got here quickly." It had taken Rini days to find her father's fortress. But Rini had been certain that her exceptional speed would have allowed her to outpace her mother at least by a week.

"You did a shit job of covering your tracks. Now, let's get out of here." Xena grabbed her daughter by the wrist. Xena had managed to get into the castle without raising any alarm. Her intimate knowledge of the grounds and castle had helped with that. She hoped that she could get out of there without being discovered just as easily. But Xena froze as she felt an old familiar tingle sizzle up her spine. Shame flushed her cheeks that Ares could still affect her in such a way. She closed her eyes as they rolled back into her head in sheer erotic pleasure. Xena couldn't let her daughter see what his nearness did to her body.

"She wasn't trying to cover her tracks, Xena. She wanted you to find her. Wanted you to find her here. With me." Ares walked past them both, the love of his life and their daughter. He took his place on his throne and glared up at Xena with deadly eyes.

Xena dropped her daughter's arm and looked back at Ares with eyes just as challenging. For a moment, nothing else existed. Just the two of them, lost in each other's visual embrace. Both wanting to kill the other, both wanting to fuck the other. It was the same circle, it had no beginning, no end. Xena shook of the trance "Well, she got what she wanted. And now, we are leaving."

"She doesn't want to go." Ares set back in his throne and stretched his arms out over the rests, his fingers gripping the tops of the skull rests. It was then that Rini realized that those skulls had her father's anger to thank for their smooth sheen.

"It doesn't matter what she wants. I'm her mother. I'll do what's best for her." Xena placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, daring him to test her.

Ares's dimples popped dangerously. "Always gearing up for a fight, my dear. You haven't changed a bit, have you? All those years away from me and yet you still hunger for it, don't you? The thrill. The danger. The slaughter. Oh baby, you can run to the moon, but you will always be mine."

As Rini watched the interchange between her biological parents, she realized that Ares had been right. Part of her truly had wanted Xena to come, to find her there with her father. She wanted Xena to have to face what she'd done. She wanted to see Xena shamed for denying her her birthright. What Rini hadn't counted on, hadn't expected at all, was that her mother burned for Ares as badly as the god still ached for her mother.

"My Lady," Millie called as she entered the main hall carrying Rini's steaming breakfast plate. The cook noticed the newcomer right away. "Should I prepare another plate?"

"Yes," Ares called.

"No," Xena said at the same time.

"I think our daughter deserves at least one breakfast with both her parents, don't you?" The pain of a thousand missed breakfasts was evident in his eyes.

Xena wanted to hate him for being hurt, but she didn't. If anything, it made her want him more

"Millie, bring my mother a plate, please."

"Right away, ma'am." Millie scurried back to the kitchen.

"Please, have a seat," Ares motioned to the long table.

"Fine, it was a long journey. We eat and then we leave." Xena walked to the table. Instead of taking her usual place of privilege at the far end of the table, she sat in one of the wooden chairs in the middle. Rini gave Xena a questioning look and then took the Lady of the Castle's seat for herself. Xena sneered. Never in all of her years had she seen anyone else sit in that seat. And now, her daughter, a young woman with her own eyes but Ares' full mouth, took her place at the table. Xena knew her daughter wouldn't be dislodge without a fight.


End file.
